Cards are one of those things that I’d rather make than buy. Handmade ones seem more thoughtful. Plus, you save so much money by making them yourself!
I created these cards with paint chips from Home Depot, so they essentially cost nothing to make!
Materials:
-paint chips (I picked the ones with the biggest area of solid color)
-cardstock
-X-acto knife
-knitting or crochet needle
-craft glue
-masking tape
Steps
Fold a piece of cardstock in half. Glue both sides together, so you have a piece that is twice as thick as what you started out with.
Decide what you want to emboss. For one of my cards, I printed out the word ‘hello,’ taped it on top of my glued cardstock and cut out the letters.
Just a heads up that it was kind of tricky to do because the letters were small and the cardstock was so thick. So just cut carefully. When you’re done, what you’ll have is a custom stencil.
Line up the stencil with the paint chip, then flip the paint chip over so the colored side faces away from you. Carefully tape this in place with masking tape. Then hold the taped sheets up to a window, so the light shines through the paper. (You can see the stencil right under the bar code in this picture).
Holding the paper up to the window lets you see the outlines of the stencil. Take your knitting or crochet needle and carefully trace inside the stencil lines. Be careful not to push down too hard, or you’ll end up puncturing the paper.
Feel free to check the embossing as you go along. When you’re happy with the amount of indentation, peel the paint chip away from the card stock. You’re done with the embossing part!
To turn this into a card, simply cut a piece of cardstock that is as tall as your paint chip and twice as wide. Fold the cardstock in half, then glue the paint chip to one side.
I also did a card with an embossed heart. It was a lot quicker to make than the ‘hello’ card!
This was a fun and quick project to do. I was almost tempted to make a lot of them so I’d have a bunch of cards stashed away for the next time I need them!